Process of molding ornamental objects



p 8, 1953 J. MICHAELSON ET AL 2,651,079

PROCESS OF MOLDING ORNAMENTAL OBJECTS Filed Oct. 12, 1949 INVENTOR.

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Patented Sept. 8, 1953 PROCESS OF MOLDIN ORNAMENTAL OBJECTS Jack Michaelson and Samuel Robert Finglass,

Baltimore, Md.

Application October 12, 1949, Serial No. 120,878 1 Claim. 01. 18-61) This invention relates to an ornamental object and to a process of manufacturing the same. More particularly, the invention relates to signs, insignia, plaques, ornamental blocks, decorative panels and the like and to a process for their manufacture.

It is an object of this invention to produce a sign, insignia, plaque or the like having inlaid portions of different materials or colors, which may be opaque, translucent or transparent, and to provide a process whereby the inlaid portions may be of any shape desired, and arranged in any manner desired.

It is a further object of the invention to produce a sign, insignia, plaque or the like displaying letters, numerals, or designs or any shape in a three dimensional manner.

It is a still further object of the invention to produce such a sign, insignia, plaque or the like in which the letters, numerals or designs are embedded in a background panel so that they are either flush with the faces of the background panel or project above the aforementioned faces.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a method of producing a sign, insignia, plaque or the like in which letters, numerals or designs are displayed in a background panel comprising a synthetic resin.

Other objects and the nature and advantages of the instant invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a mold used in the process;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View of the mold on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 after the characters have been inserted;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 after the background panel has been filled in;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view similar to Figs. 2

and 3 showing a background panel of two diiferent colors;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing a mold with deeper indentations to receive letters that will project beyond the face of the background panel;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view in perspective of a portion of a sign when first removed from the mold, and

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7 showing the protruding portions removed.

Referring to Fig. l, the mold III comprises walls I l and cavity l2. The bottom of the mold cavity is provided with mold recesses It to receive and align the characters such as, letters, numerals,

designs or the like which are to become an integral part of the-product. In the example shown in Fig. 1, the recesses are adapted to receivethe letters P, A, R and K. The mold recesses 13 are shallow. but sufiiciently deep to hold the letters in proper alignment during the subsequent molding of the background panel. The molds used in the process may be made of any material, such as metal, rubber, plastic, plaster or the like. The recesses in the mold cavity that receive and align the letters may vary in depth as desired.

The characters, such as, letters, figures or designs l5, to be displayed-are produced in any suitable manner such as by molding, casting, cutting, forming, stamping or the like, and may be opaque, translucent or transparent and made of any material, such as plastic, metal, wood, plaster or the like, in any desired color. The background panel [6 is preferably made of a transparent synthetic resin.

The method of manufacture of the product is as-follows: The mold I0 is first prepared with side walls ll of a height equivalent to the final desired'thicknessof the product. The bottomof the mold cavity I2 is provided with recesses I3 which correspond to the shape of the characters l5 to be incorporated into the final product. The characters l5 which have been prepared as described above are then inserted into the mold and are aligned with the recesses I 3 in the bottom thereof, so as to be held firmly in position during the casting operation. The background material I6 is next filled in, usually by pouring the material in molten or plastic condition. This material fills all the spaces between the characters l5 and the mold l0 until the mold is completely filled, as shown in Fig. 4. The material is allowed to harden and thus consolidate the characters [5 and the background material It into an integral structure. In the preferred embodiment of the invention the characters are molded from a colored opaque plastic material, and the background material is transparent. In this manner, the sides of the characters are visible below the surface of the background panel, thus showing the characters in a three dimensional manner. The height, width and depth of the characters are clearly visible. In the preferred form of the invention, the mold recesses are made shallow, with a depth sufiicient merely to correctly align the letters. The resulting slight projections on the face of the panel when it is removed from the mold due to the recesses therein are removed by any suitable manner such as by grinding so that the face of the characters 3 I! in the final product is flush with each surface of the background panel.

In a variation of this process, as illustrated in Fig. 5, the characters l5 are inserted into the mold cavities [3 as previously described. A plastic material is then molded around the letters filling the mold to a point about one-half the height thereof. After this plastictmaterial has hardenedfiasecond plastic materia'l of a different color is molded about the upper half of the letters filling the remaining unfilled portion one the mold. When the resulting structure is (removed from the mold, the projections ofthe characters above the surface of the background panel are ground oif.

the sign is removedirom the mold, the characters project above the face of :the background panel,, thus giving :a decorative-sign "with *the tops of the-characters extending upwardly from the background and-the' leweraportions of the characters visible through the transparent 'backgrcund w i 7., l

It should benoted that the-characters may be made of -a phosphorescent material so as to be visible in the darkness, or-of a --light-conducting material such as Lucite, and many other variationscould be incorporated, *Whenwthe background panel is molded hot, the only requirement is that the material :from which the :characters are formed be resistant to; the heat at which the ba kground panel '-.is molded.

If chman- 0f the .1 background panel is made of a transparent resin The signs, insignia, plaques, decorative panels and the like made in accordance with this invention are highly decorative, colorful, distinctive and easily manufactured.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and therefore the' invention zis not limited to what 'iss'howniin the drawings and described in the specification but only as indicated in the apllpended claim.

Weclaim: 'L'In aplocess' of making a molded ornamental object comprising the steps of forming aplurality' o'f liodie'siintoidesired configurations, formitig the bottom of a mold cavity a plurality of ireoesses'corresponding in shape to the configurations of said 'bo'dies, placing said bodies into said m'old in a horizontal position with a portion only of said bodies extending into said corresponding :recesses; filling the spaces :between :the bodies andabetween 'themoldiand -.the:bodies:with a lplast-ic material to storm :asbackground panel, allowing- :thebodies :to become firmly set in the background :panel, therebyriorming theornamental object, removing the object from the mold, and finishing .ofh rthe extended :portions of, said bodies so that the bodies and ttheybackground panel-iare-df-theesamemeight. 1

JACKMICHAELSON.

l sAMUELwRoBERT. FINGLASS.

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